The Strange Ones (Rewrite)
by Beast of Beltaine
Summary: During a club meet, four young women enjoy the exploration of the Halo universe through the perspectives of their favorite protagonists. However things soon go awry and the party is brought to an abrupt end when all four are sucked into the Halo universe itself. Good thing they brought snacks! FOC's x protagonists and Androgynous B312. Contains Fantasy elements.
1. The Adventure Begins

**( A/N) Ah… I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but _Halo: The Strange Ones_ , was written by me several years ago. I'm glad so many people enjoyed the story, but it doesn't feel like my best work and I'm still hesitant to admit it's even _mine_. But, because I don't like leaving loose ends and I'd like to pick Halo fanfiction up again, I've decided to rewrite the story with a more realistic spin (for a fanfic of both the humor and romance genre by my hand) and to help me remember that it's alright to have characters that are silly and fun loving. Lots of things have happened recently and it's taken a bit of a toll on my writing and my characters behavior, so letting them and myself go free feels like just what I need.**

 **I've completely forgotten my password for the other account and the email I used to make it. So… I can't go back and rewrite everything on there, so I'll be doing the rewrite on here. I've actually got a different story of a somewhat similar type that I want to write for the Halo series, but it's actually a separate line I've been planning for a while. Kind of like my other story, Ulfeonar! But I digress.**

 **Wish me luck and I hope you enjoy! Please leave a review if you're comfortable with it, it'd be much appreciated!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't feel compelled to write a disclaimer every chapter because this is fanfiction, so I'll say it once. if I'd had any control over the Halo series it would probably not be anywhere _near_ as popular as it is lol. I own absolutely nothing but my own original characters and a few imaginary places/happenings.**

* * *

The winter night seemed to suck the light from the world, draping this part of it with cold and dark. As the streetlights struggled to make a dent in it for the cars rumbling on the nearly abandoned freeway, the brightest spot in the old city seemed to come from a simple, rundown looking building. Faint laughter and delighted voices tickled the air, warm golden light providing a safe place for late night pedestrians to walk. The bottom half of the apartment was a deep red brick, while the upper half was a gray wood, splintering with age and wear.

Despite the noise the upper level was making, no people screamed for them to shut up, no brooms banged against the interior of the building in desperation. Either no one else lived in the building, or the little poster stuck on the front door of the building and plastered on every wall of every floor indicating a party on this date since the month _before_ … had done its job. The young woman making her way up the stairs knew the answer to be the former. Those posters were just for the landlord and the sisters who lived here to remember the date.

With a jaunty gate as she reached her floor, she shifted her backpack higher on her shoulder and navigated her way to the door she'd been looking for. The old wood was smoother and more well-polished than the outside of the building would suggest, just like how the carpet beneath her sandals was plush and fresh. Undoubtedly new. From here, she could still hear the voices and a grin pulled at the corners of her lips as she reached for the inconspicuous button next to the door.

A soft, light _ding_ cut the laughter short, excited exclamations from within made her heart swell with love for the women on the other side. Like drum beats, she could hear a set of bare feet thundering across the wooden flooring of the hall, coming so close to the door she'd swear the person behind it would slam into the old door and blow it off its hinges. Luckily, the door swung open the _opposite_ way to reveal a redhead with the brightest smile the world would ever see.

"Caia!" She exclaimed, long arms already reaching forward to pull the brunette into a tight hug that would squeeze the life out of a lesser girl. "Red!" Caia laughed, returning it with equal zest. Calls of _"Aaayy"_ and _"Yooo!"_ leaked from the apartment's living room, undoubtedly belonging to the other women of their curious clique. The redhead took the other woman's bag and set it down beside another- actually, _three_ other bags despite the fact that two people here were permanent residents of the apartment.

"We missed you! Ugh, it's been way too long. How's work going for you? Didja get me any presents?" The ginger practically dragged the other girl into the apartment and allowed the door to close behind her, pale rangy legs making Caia work double time to keep pace crossing the short distance. With Red's mouth working double time too, her sentences quickly lost formality and delved into the madness of old internet teen talk. The brunette was barely able to open her mouth to reply before a set of strong arms scooped her up with a squeak of surprise.

Hearty guffaws rattled her bones as she was carried into the living by the one, the only… " _Kacy!_ " Who just raised her higher into the air without a hitch. Caia barely resisted screeching in indignant rage and wriggled about in Kacy's iron grasp.

Kacy, being the tallest and second strongest woman in the group, had no problem with carrying other shorties like Caia around. Like many times before, the brunette collects herself and sighs. "Kacy, if you don't put me down I swear that _I'LL BREAK YOUR LEGS AND THROW YOU INTO PUGET SOUND-"_ she stops short when she catches Kacy's grin. Her heart sinks into the pit of her stomach and already her mouth opens to form a 'no' but it was too late. "Okay." Was all the blonde said before flinging the smaller woman across the wide room.

The brunette openly screeched this time as she clawed wildly for purchase to keep from the inevitable fall, but failed miserably at finding anything but the smooth faced ceiling. Laughter had long since restarted and it only kicked up a notch as she landed on the bounciest mattress she'd ever had the displeasure of sprawling on.

She almost bounced right off it, if not for the firm grasp on her wrist and the chuckle from in front of her. Caia hadn't realized she'd closed her eyes, but when she opened them her stress dissipated when her forest green eyes locked with a familiar set of brown so dark they almost looked black. But in the warm light, she could see chestnut brown and orange flickering delightedly within.

"Hey," Eben smiled, dark hair framing her rounded, square face as wonderfully as ever. As long as it'd been since the two girls dated, Caia still harbored a tiny crush on her longtime friend. Eben had graduated a year after the other girls became sophomores at the same school and they hadn't been able to see each other when she attended college. Both Caia and Eben changed over the course of those years and found when they tried to rekindle their budding relationship, they just didn't mesh well in the romance field anymore. Caia too young at heart and Eben a little too jaded by adult life at the time. Nonetheless, the two remained good friends and hung out often.

Although, since finding a summer job while she did her own college courses, the taller brunette hadn't had much time to hang out with anyone. Not even Eben.

"Hey yourself, " Caia replied, smiling cheekily as she pulled herself up straight and back onto the heaps of blankets and pillows atop what seemed like two mattresses stacked atop one another. "Where's the rest of the club?"

The mattresses bounced again as another body flopped onto them, Kacy's light blonde hair bobbing with the motions as she made herself comfortable next to them. She put up a hand and counted down the missing people. "Alexis, Jace, and Betty couldn't make it, Li broke his foot and is still out on pain meds, and Salto is on vacation in Japan. Nobody else has shown up yet, so we're assuming they aren't coming or are running late. I was planning on calling 'em up to make sure they're safe in an hour, just in case." She hummed.

Once more the mattress bounced, but hardly enough to jolt any of them as Red bounded into the middle of the mattress fortress, curling up by her sister's significantly shorter legs. Eben just chuckled and patted her ginger mane. Yeah, people wouldn't think the two were related at all, but if you looked in the right places the similarities would be noted. The same handsome features, the same cupid's bow lips, and high cheekbones. They shared the same mother, but not the same father. Eben looked like their maternal grandmother and her deceased father put together, while Red looked much like her father and a little like her mother.

But Eben looked harsher, had stern brows and a proud nose. Her sharpened eyes and stockier build made her seem like a force to be reckoned with. Red was daintier in appearance, a more delicate nose and sweet soulful eyes. Her brows always made her look a little surprised. But, while her visage was classically beautiful and elegant, at her core she was a madwoman. Absolutely mad. Her employers never saw it as she maintained a most professional persona around them but the moment she got home… Red was _**unleashed**_. Having seen the shift firsthand, the ginger had effectively scared the daylights out of Caia on more than one occasion.

She wasn't sure what she found more eerie. The fact that Red could appear so calm, serene, and in control in hiding such a whirlwind nature… or that the real younger Benroy was this fucking _crazy_ underneath it all. Still, they were close friends and the unconditional love Red showed all game club members had won everyone over.

Red giggled and donned a most secretive look, eyes glittering like the Arabian sea. "So… which game are we gonna play?"

Kacy, the big buff of the group, was quick to answer. "ODST!" She barked, causing Red to whine. "But we played that last time! What about H2A?"

Every club meet, they played a different Halo game. Sometimes they played different aspects of the game they played last time, but usually they just went through it by whoever got the most votes. Even the losing vote didn't remain displeased for long, the Halo series was what the girls were all about. "Why not Reach?" Caia asked tentatively, but Eben shook her head. "Nah, I'd rather play Combat Evolved."

Kacy laughed maliciously, grinning with all the evil befitting of a demon. "So you can see your man at his peak again?"

Eben, though flustered, responds with a sly smirk of her own. A demon has no chance against the devil itself. "Like _you_ can judge. You just wanna play ODST again you can fawn over the Rookie's adorkable ways. And his ass."

Kacy balked, sputtering her defense with as much vehemence as a woman on trial. "Bungee made him so cute! How can you not love him? He's literally the perfect embodiment of the strong and silent type. Plus, he's got a _great_ set of buns! Excuse me for being the only one here to notice!"

Caia snorted. "Uh huh, compared to that of pretty much _everyone_ in Reach? He's got _nothing_ on Six or Kat. Not even our holy lord and savior Buck can beat that booty. "

Eben shook her head and laughed, about to strike Caia's argument as well, when Red's terrified voice cut the air.

" _ **MUFFINZ!"**_

A long-winded sigh left Eben and the two others just shook their heads.

"Red, what the fuck-" "THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES BEFORE THEY _TAKE THEM_!"

The ginger bolted off the bed like a startled cat, spooking the actual three perched on their scratching post palace generally avoiding the noisy (and perhaps somewhat annoying) humans. Eben turned to Caia and Kacy while Red skittered around the apartment like a rodent. "At least we aren't living at home anymore, or mom and Andrew would be yelling at us to quiet down. It'd be fair with all the racket we can make though." Her juniors nodded in agreement.

Kacy sighed. "Okay, now we can't vote because we know how _that_ would turn out with Red hiding in a corner. What should we do?" Eben smirked, dark eyes glittering wickedly. "Race ya." And off she goes, lunging towards the TV sets and the multiple consoles that took the club several years to put together. The blonde squawks indignantly and jumps after her, arms outreached in an attempt to drag Eben back. However, Eben being the smallest and fastest of them all, merely slips out of the way and rolls the rest of the distance to the consoles to pick her choice.

The shelves below the TV sets were filled with different games for the wide variety of consoles, although none of the game cases had quite so much wear as all those belonging to the Halo series. Well, Spore had definitely seen better days, but that was probably due to Red's relentless playing.

Caia laughed and made herself comfortable on the mattresses while the other two sorted it out, tilting her head to call out, "Red, time to play!"

From the far room of the apartment, she heard a muffled _"Yay!"_

* * *

The winner of the contest was, without a doubt, Eben.

Kacy had huffed at her loss and swept her short bangs to the side, claiming Eben had only one because of her head start. Which wasn't entirely wrong, but Eben had just smiled and selected her choice game with her lucky controller in hand. The lightly tanned girl had picked, of course, _Combat Evolved_ to play first. Luckily, the _Master Chief Collection_ made it significantly easier to play any of the games but considering they could only really play with two players at a time for _Combat Evolved_ … They battled over who could play first and who would move on to either watch, wait to take over in a part the other girl couldn't do, or play another game on the other set. But all the young women were content to sit back and watch for the time being until needed. First companion player with Eben was Red, who sat chipper and bright with the controller in hand.

Caia and Kacy had fetched snacks from the kitchen while the other two got themselves set up. This was another stash the club set up… and had to _keep_ setting up because it shrank even after the club meets ended because _some_ people can't keep their hands off snack foods. And considering only two human beings live in this apartment, it should be pretty obvious who the culprits are. _(At least they make sure to restock what they take.)_ Surprisingly, a lot of the food was healthy and long lasting, probably to keep the members from dying of a heart attack later in life. Still, cans of spam and other not so healthy things did find their way in! Probably Eben's doing, as heavy foods seemed to be the only thing capable of sating her voracious appetite. Several bags of chips, health bars, and other assorted goods littered the resting spots and were almost grabbed for blindly by both the players and their "AI" companions.

The startup was normal, amazing music leaking from the surround sound speakers, the _sign in_ screen, etc, all of it ran smoothly. In fact, the women were able to get through the first level within record time after slaughtering the Covenant invaders and snagged the two skulls on the first Halo array on the second. But, as they approached the tunnel, the screen suddenly went blank, black, and the speakers cut off. A silence stretched over the room.

Until suddenly it was full of outraged cries, Red wailing a long and drawn out " _Noooooo!_ We were doing so good! What about my mad skills bro!?" while Kacy nearly roared _"WHAT THE HELL!?"_ Caia chattered angrily, too fast to be deciphered. Eben, grumbling, stood up to check the cables in the back. But she paused while rifling through them, turning back with furrowed brows. Perplexed, she checks the screen again and looks around the room. The indignity dies down as the others notice her reaction.

"Eben?" Kacy questions, but the girl just runs a hand through her hair as she glances at the Xbox One again.

"There's nothing wrong."

Caia raises a brow. "What?"

"There's nothing wrong. No cables wiggled out of place, no rats or mice have chewed anything into oblivion, and power is still on." Eben muses, stepping back to the mattresses and pillows to plop herself down. Red hums while Kacy aggressively smashes buttons on the TV remote. "The TV and sound system are both out, but I can see the Xbox is still running. Although, considering that we were in a hot zone and didn't pause the game beforehand, I should be gettin' absolutely destroyed right now. Yet, I can't feel any shots through my controller. You?"

"Same," Eben frowned. "And I was just duking it out with some Sangheili. With my fists. I'm not getting any vibrations from that either so I'm assuming this means something is wrong with the Xbox to boot. What the hell is going on?"

Suddenly, before anyone has a chance to speak again the TV screen flips to a blue screen. And by blue screen its that same too-bright primary color that does not contrast nicely with white letters. But at the moment, there are no white letters. Just a sea of blue making all the women wince in distaste.

"Uh… Benroys? Why is there a blue screen of death on the club TV?" Caia dared to ask.

"Probably some hacker bullshit." Kacy snarled. "Think it's so damn funny messing with other people. Little punk ass bit-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a winking white line appeared on screen, like the black line on a blank word document to mark where you're at. In a flurry, words started appearing on screen. But they weren't in English or Chinese or Afrikaans, they were familiar… but also not.

The girls, fascinated, leaned forward to get a better view, and thus were unaware of their rescue cats sneaking off to find a safe location in the house one by one like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

"… That's Latin!" Eben suddenly exclaims, looking surprised and delighted. Kacy frowned, looking unimpressed. "Yeah, we got that. But what does it say?"

"Gimmie a sec to translate it…" Eben hummed, squinting as though that would help her sharp vision decode the secrets of the speech.

The other women waited with baited breath until she looked victorious. "If you want to seize the day and save the galaxy… Destiny won't wait for you across the stars unless you give me your social security numbers."

Kacy looked impressed, as did Red and Caia. "How did you manage that?"

Eben looked smug. "I studied Latin in middle school. Along with Greek, Italian, Japanese, and I picked up some Mandarin in a class." Caia tilted her head, astonished, as were the other two girls. "You never told us that!" "Why didn't you tell me this? Some guy in Japan thinks I'm a prostitute now!"

Red's cry attracted the disbelieving stares of everyone else and a moment of silence for the death of more of Red's dignity. If she'd had any to begin with!

Eben scoffed. "Nah, I just made that up. Literally, the only things I recognize out of this spiel are the quotes 'Seize the day' and 'Destiny Awaits' which is pretty weird for a hacker to say. Everything else, not a clue."

Caia picked up a pillow and threw it against Eben's face.

"Well, that doesn't help us get back to playing Halo." Kacy grouches, lifting herself up with a long-suffering sigh. "But I don't remember us playing online for anything other than getting achievements, we were hardly using any Wi-Fi remember? How and why would a hacker pick _us_ out of _all_ the people in the world playing multiplayer and _all_ the other online, global _team games?"_

Canting her head to the side, Red attempted to decipher it herself, reciting the words to the best of her ability despite having a staunchly Washingtonian inclination. Eben shook her head, smiling slightly. "No, you've gotta roll your r's and stuff, this is Latin we're talking about. The source of Spanish and dozens of other "love" languages- the root of them all!" To give an example, she recites the many phrases of Latin with accuracy.

At first, nothing happens- not that they expected it to, but a sudden silence, a sudden stillness sets over the room. It's almost… too quiet, for all the racket the girls had been making beforehand.

The TV screen went white, erasing the letters from sight and a breeze ruffled all loose hairs towards the screen. Caia shivered, as did Red, and as Kacy looked back for the source the breeze picked up so suddenly the girls barely had time to latch onto the heavy mattresses (and the couch for the two close enough to it) before it started to sweep them up. The suction was impossibly strong, the girls holding on for dear life with screams and shouts of alarm "What the hell is going on!?" Eben screeched, nails digging into the fabrics and feet bracing against the floor for extra purchase. Everything from her hair to her clothes was drawn towards the screen- just the same as everyone else's.

Witnessing a bag flying past her head, Caia realized with mounting terror that it was _hers._ The very one she had had left in the hall. It was like an omen that she would be following it soon.

Caia had found root in the couch, her own nails freshly painted chipping against the leather of the ancient sofa. She grimaced as she felt her nail cutting into the leather, leaving long scratches as her panic rose. She was slipping, even as her fingers strained to hold her in place. The brunette tried opening her mouth to warn about her looseness when a sudden surge of **power** ripped her away from the couch and mattresses, the short distance seeming to move in slow motion in her eyes. She reached out for her friends who watched in horror as she was drawn away from them just like those wrappers. With her feet angled towards the screen and her belly towards the floor, she looked down behind herself just in time to see the burning white screen right in front of her face.

Then it all went black.


	2. Caia: Shriek Of Agony

**Halo Strange Ones Rewrite Chapter 2**

 **(A/N) I wanted to thank Dierschke9 and Real Plasma for the reviews! Diershke9's review made me laugh _(I'm guessing why!)_ and Real Plasma definitely gave me a confidence boost to continue writing this story. Thank you two so much for taking the time to review. To my friend 'Kenzie, thank you so much for proofreading these chapters! You're the best! :D **

**This chapter is a little less lighthearted but I think that's pretty fair considering what's going on. It's also where the fantasy aspect of the story really comes in… Because I don't think the girls would be able to survive the Halo Campaigns without it. It's pivotal to the plot anyways- but I can't spoil more than that! I hope y'all enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

Caia

 **Shriek of Agony**

.

.

.

Jolting awake with a bodily twitch, Caia inhaled sharply to get her body running. Instead of the warm, minty smelling air of her room filling her lungs and bringing awareness to her mind, she abruptly choked on dry, dusty air that felt more like attempting to breathe through pebbles. Startled, she sat up and coughed, lean frame wracked with the effort to get whatever shit was in her system _out_. Luckily, it seemed the thing suffocating her could be expelled as she felt the goopy object move up with her efforts. The woman felt something _nasty_ rise out of her throat and she hastily spat it out, grimacing at the sight of black goop splattering onto the dirt. It left a foul taste in her mouth, like copper and some kind of rancid muck-

Wait, wait… _what?_

 _ **Dirt?**_

The last time Caia checked, she'd been at home… No, wait, that wasn't right either. She… She had been at the Benroy's place- it was game club that night! Well, mostly just Halo club without the other members to play around but- what was she doing _outside_ on the _ground?_

The memories of what she assumed to be "Last Night" played through her head and she paled, remembering the set glitching out like crazy and… being whisked towards to TV screen…

A sudden surge of terror had her glancing all over her surroundings, forest greens looking desperately for something familiar but finding nothing of the sort. Dirt, rocks, and clouded vision was all she found. For a minute, Caia thought she was dead. The area didn't look familiar right off the bat, and the dust rolling over the land blocked off her sight to anything beyond her rocky clearing. It might not be in black and white, but if she were in limbo or purgatory, the woman wouldn't be surprised.

"Sitting here won't help me figure out where I am…" Caia mumbled to herself, rubbing her upper arm anxiously. The black blob sitting in the silt entirely forgotten in her current dilemma. "Um, in the slightly butchered words of Robin Williams, I think I need a change in perspective."

Cautiously, the brunette stood up and looked around from her _'new perspective'_. Surprisingly, it helped! She could see more of her surroundings now. Hills, fences, and a towering structure became visible through the dust clouds. By squinting, she attempted to get a better view of the tower, finding it to look oddly familiar from this angle alone. She squinted harder as though it would make it clearer. It didn't.

 _BANG!_

 _BANG! BANG BANG!_

Caia nearly jumped out of her skin, yelping in fright as several loud shots echoed throughout the area. The sounds were like claps of thunder in the silence, save for the gusts of wind pushing the pesky dust clouds around. It gave the eerie impression of being caught in the middle of a _**storm**_.

Reasonably wary, Caia glanced around for a hiding spot and almost collapsed when she saw none. However, Caia found the perfect hide away- or at least it looked like it from this angle. A large boulder sat proudly upon the earth, away from the rest and catching the eye like a jewel on a ring- but there it was! A hole in the ground, just big enough for a small woman like herself to fit into. Absently, Caia thought that Eben would be able to fit perfectly inside with her itty bitty stature and the idea made her smile slightly. But she had to push the thought away, hearing the gun shots draw closer and closer.

Hastily she lunged towards her cover and attempted to crawl inside. The dirt was soft and smooth beneath her hands as she tried cramming herself into the small space, grunting at the effort to get her shoulders and hips through. Nonetheless, she managed, popping through the entrance and tumbling into the hole that was much bigger on the inside than she thought. Her head thudded against the side of the den and her rump followed quickly behind. Though she had silt and rocks in her hair she didn't worry about that, scrambling to turn herself around and stare into the haze outside. To be honest, she felt like one of the people in _The Mist_. She might not be trapped in a grocery store, but she was trapped in a mist obviously riddled with danger if someone was shooting with that kind of reckless abandon. For the sake of staying alive, this was probably her best bet.

This little hideaway _had_ to be made by someone else. It was too big, too perfect a hiding hole and there was no trace of animal activity here that she could see. It didn't matter though, it was here and now she was safe. For the most part. The rock covered most of the hole and one could really only slip in if they had relatively narrow shoulders and a flat body, making it difficult for a more voluptuous person to fit. If someone bigger than her tried to get in, they might only be able to stick their arms and legs in. For once, Caia was pleased she was smaller than most.

She'd been huddling there for less than a minute before she heard footsteps.

Heavy, laden footsteps seemed to reverberate in her mind as the gunfire echoed in the landscape and she stilled, holding her breath. They were coming her way.

It didn't take long for steely boots to obscure her vision, the woman flinching when the first one came into her sight with a heavy _thud_. For a moment Caia almost yelped in surprise but managed to keep it down- she didn't want to be caught! Yet, her tiny flinch and miniscule gasp seemed to bring pause to the person standing outside her hideout. Feeling like a mouse under the gaze of a massive predator, the woman froze into place. The boots, large and most definitely made primarily of metal, continued on their walk and the brunette breathed a sigh of relief when they kept going, changing course to continue straight through her line of sight. She noted how low they kept to the ground as though every step of the way took tremendous effort. They scuffed almost every other step and Caia winced as she anticipated an inevitable fall. She'd walked that way after a charity marathon, too exhausted to keep going but going anyways because if she stopped and rested… She felt like she'd never get up again… Albeit there were plenty of people around to help her out. With the desolate air, Caia had sneaking suspicions this person had no one.

The thought had her biting her lip in apprehension, torn between staying hidden for her own safety or reaching out to help.

Thundering footsteps from behind became clear through the dirt and rock, the solids making it easy to hear knocks like that and she instinctively stayed huddled beneath the rock. She jolted when something heavy landed on her cover, the rock seemed to sink in an extra inch under the new pressure and she could hear something _BREATHING_ nearly on top of her… and _growling_. Growling in a garbled tongue too familiar to be coincidental. The creature crouching on her rock lunged forward with a mighty cry, the figure ahead spinning on their heel in response to the sound. The impact put two amethyst feet before Caia's eyes and more clay dust ended up kicked into her eyes. In the two seconds it took for her to wince and rub at her assailed eyes, she heard it take off running. The sound of an energy blade activating and the battle cries continued as strange hoof-like appendages carried the being swiftly across the short plain.

Her eyes were cleared in time (although itchy and winking like Morse code, she didn't want to miss a thing) to see the more familiar set of boots adjust their stance. The person seemed relatively prepared, even if they could be regarded as sluggish, to perform a _lethal_ roundhouse kick as in the blink of an eye. The sickening squeak of metal twisting, bones breaking, and the squelch of organic matter beneath an unforgiving boot sent Caia's stomach churning. What was once a ferocious roar ended up transformed into a squawk and a silence as a body hit the dirt, prompting Caia to wince. The crackling, sizzling of the sword ceased just as the Sangheili's life flickered out.

' _Well, guess that won't be hurting in the morning.'_ She thought morbidly.

Suddenly, Caia had the image of a looking through the cracked HUD of a helmet, watching as it took blow after blow and cracked with each strike of fists and force. _Watching_ through the HUD as her heart **ached** , knowing each step was to be the last…

Covenant Zealots closing in to seal a cruelest fate.

Caia knew where she was.

She knew what was happening.

She knew what would happen.

And all of it filled her to the core with fear.

The memory faded and the brunette blinked back into… well, maybe not _reality_ but whatever this was, she returned to it with a shaky sigh.

' _Time is running out!'_ She thinks as she peeks outside again, this time practically sticking her head out of the ground to get a better view. The view she got was far from better. She'd almost rather not have seen it at all. But there it was, her favorite character in the Halo series struggling to fend off foe after foe after foe… and there was no end to it! Some bounced back, others died and replacements came in to continue the fight. With the Spartan III too tired to dance in the fray, there was no way to win.

This was the end for Noble Six.

It was like the Zealots had come when she was distracted, swarming around them like hornets just like in the memory but the image was from another angle- her own eyes barely off ground level.

Sharp green eyes found a Spartan so similar to the one she designed in her own game, but several things were different. The steely color and choice helmet were the same, but shoulder and knee guards were different variants. Or maybe it was just the damage they'd taken that made them look so different.

Plasma flew through the air, hitting everything with a hiss and a sizzle that sent chills down Caia's spine. Several plasma shots made contact with the armor but she saw only a jolt from the force of impact before the Spartan threw themselves back into the madness. Bones broke, lives ended, and the tiring Spartan finally had a brief moment to reach up and remove their basically _useless_ helmet and cast it to the ground. Their towering figure stumbled away, looking as though half of themselves wanted to leave and the other half sought a fight.

The latter half seemed to get what it wanted.

More Sangheili, Zealots and other ranks of the alien species appeared from seemingly nowhere. The fight was hard fought but- suddenly one got something in and knocked Noble Six to the ground. A sword was raised high but they kicked out, swiping the Zealot down and using their knife to end that life. Another, however, appeared to finish the job.

Caia's heart sank.

' _No, no-!' Like_ a volcano, she erupted in fury. _'HELL FUCKING NO! NOT THIS TIME, BABY!'_

The brunette snarled silently as she clawed her way out of her shelter, scraping her back against the rough stone on the way out but paying no mind to such a mild injury. Her breath came out hard as she adjusted her stance to the way Eben had taught her, stepping on the side of her foot, rolling onto the ball of her foot, then resting on the heel before repeating the process. It was only now she realized she _was_ barefoot, feeling the soil and rock beneath her toes as she silently sprinted across the distance. Fox Running, it was called, and while she wasn't the best at it yet right now it seemed to work fantastically. Lucky her!

The aliens had their attention focused on the still struggling Spartan III who kicked and grabbed the boot holding them down as Caia snuck up behind the Zealot. Half instinct, half adrenaline, and a the tiniest fraction of courage was what it took for Caia to leap onto the back of the Sangheili, desperately clawing her way up its back. Her fingers sought hold in the armor, feet bracing against its hips as she pushed higher and higher- absently realizing she'd never fully grasped how BIG these guys were- finally making it to his shoulders.

The Zealot roared with rage and went to pull the filthy human off his back but she shrunk away from his hands, just barely dodging those eight clawed fingertips. The other Sangheili and Covenant bastards, in an act of stupidity, began firing at the two enemies. Hitting the shields of their own compatriot until eventually it broke down. The small human took her chances and reached up to grip the helmet by the sides and _PULL_ -

The helmet came off with a click and with all the speed and force she could muster Caia flipped it the other way and brought it down upon the Zealot's head.

 _THUNK!_

The zealot stood, stunned, before he roared once more indignantly and resumed attempts to free himself from this living and breathing _burden_.

Caia brought it down again, and again, and again, using every angle and all her energy to assault the Covenant. At first, she thought it would be pointless, but the sharp edges of the helmet began digging in and another Sangheili began intervening when he saw her progress on his superior. But her erratic movements and tiny body made it hard to catch her. Sticky purple blood squirted from the injuries as the Zealot practically tried bucking the human off, growing desperate as he lost more and more honor with each second. It filled the air with the stench of tar, and the awareness that she was succeeding pushed Caia onwards. Purple, indigo blood splattered onto her soft brown sweater and her skin, painting a picture of violence. Her blows came more forceful than she thought possible from her somewhat lacking physique and the skull eventually caved- suddenly and without warning- to her tiny hands and the abused helmet in them. The metal had screeched on the last blow, but Caia failed to notice that the metal itself had torn apart in her hands.

She cried out in alarm as she fell with the body, ruined helmet still in hand. Her own form, tumbling away, made rough contact with Reach once again. Glancing back, she confirmed the Zealot's death and spotted the energy blade flickering out of life on the ground. If she knew how to hold it she would be glad to use it, but as she didn't want to lose an arm… Caia decided against it.

There was however, a plasma rifle on the Sangheili's hip and she hurried to grab it, dropping the helmet as the intervening Elite recovered from the bizarre death of his superior, raising his own weapon to use on her. She could hear it charging with a dull thrum and she hurried to figure out how to pry the weapon from the corpse.

Her fingers fumbled to find a way, looking at it this way and that and finally she gave up and yanked it off- falling back just in time to avoid the plasma bolt that would have burned a hole through her head. Both sides, if she wasn't mistaken.

She could've ended up like a bead. Someone could've run a thread right through the wound to put her on a string with all the other victims that blade was surely responsible for.

Ignoring the horror of her own situation (or at least pushing it down until she could burst) Caia crab walked backwards to increase the distance between herself and the enraged Sangheili, rifle still in hand and scuffed against the ground. As it growled threateningly, muttering something in its foreign tongue, Caia plopped back down to free her hands and raised the weapon high, pulling what she believed to be the trigger.

In a flurrying flash of plasma bolts and a sharp roll of her wrists from recoil, Caia nearly cried in delight as the weapon _worked_! She could feel it heating up in her hand and her wrist was already starting to hurt from resisting the recoil but she was fighting back- fine blobs of plasma spewing out to batter the Minor's shields like tomatoes at a flogging. At first he growled, but then as it began to weaken the Sangheili made a tactical retreat and dove behind her previous hiding spot.

She ceased firing just before the heat became unbearable and sighed in relief- only to remember she wasn't alone yet and-!

Caia squeaked as she tilted her head back and saw a blade coming down above her head- somehow she'd missed the activation- and narrowly avoided being skewered in the dirt. This was neither a Minor nor a Zealot, but she didn't pay attention to the details of his status beyond that and his wide stance. Little did he know, he was making the perfect get away with his legs and she took her chance!

It was as she'd barely managed to get under him she realized her luck! Raising the weapon to aim right where she assumed the crown jewels to be, she pulled the odd trigger once again and winced as the heat from the plasma seared her palms. (Although she knew from Red's informative lesson that Sangheili didn't bear reproductive organs on the outside, she still hoped for the same distinctive reaction. The relief she felt when her plan worked was enough to make her giggle in nervous excitement. The energy shields didn't break, but the Sangheili was hasty to retreat and shield himself from the woman's assault. He looked shocked and horrified she would even _try_ that as he danced away. The lack of smugness and hate on his alien face was highly appreciated by the small human and she almost laughed. _Almost._

She took this chance to get closer to Noble Six but when she spotted them- her poor little heart nearly gave out after yet another Zealot tried to kill them. What the _hell_ did the universe have with making Zealots trying to kill them!? _**Specifically**_ Zealots!? She was too far now, too far to make a difference and the plasma rifle was still too hot to use. Green eyes filled with despair and the brunette reached out with her free hand. Caia would be too late, and the other Covenant creatures were raising their weapons skywards to cheer on _death_.

So she did the only thing she could do.

She screamed.

And the Zealot exploded.

Quite literally, he exploded in a gooey, tar-stinking layer of indigo filth coating everything around him. Especially the Grunts and other Sangheili shocked to silence behind him. If Caia's understanding of alien body language was right, several of them were going to be sick. Especially that one grunt off to the side, he had a bit of dark, goopy hide sliding off the side of his head like slop.

Caia gagged, absolutely disgusted.

Yet, stubbornly she held down the urge to spew what little she had in her stomach. This might work to her immediate advantage, even if she hadn't the fainted idea of what the fuck just happened. She hadn't _seen_ anything coming at the Zealot- but it seemed neither had they. Before something else could happen to make it clear the explosion was definitely not her doing, she swallowed thickly before putting on a brave face. Climbing to her feet with a ferocious grin and glinting eyes, her shoulders lax just enough to give the impression of self-assured cockiness. Pointing her bedazzled finger towards the horrified party, she looked all too eager to use the same "power" on them.

"You!" She roared. "If you don't want to end up like him, you'll politely fuck off!"

The grunts seemed all too eager to not explode, and the one she'd voted as most likely to upchuck met his full potential that moment. To be honest Caia hadn't even known if some aliens could barf, and she distantly tucked this bit of information away for later use. Although she herself felt quite sick, she kept up the game. It wasn't one she could afford to lose!

The remaining Sangheili snarled, but a glance one shot behind her reminded her that she was still effectively surrounded. The sound of garbled vomiting off to her left also made that pretty clear- they'd also been repulsed by the violent end for the Zealot. But they stepped back, distancing themselves from her. One had the audacity to reach up for their helmet- to request assistance she assumed- but a sharp glare put the action to rest.

"Good choice, boys. "

Feigning smugness, she strode evenly towards the stilled form of the Spartan III, heedless of the danger the ones standing so close to them posed. She needed to get Six out of here. But how? Spartans literally weigh more than a thousand pounds in armor, and borderline dead weight was even worse.

From where she stood, looking down at their still form, she was shocked by the lack of helmet. She had expected to see a steel helmet with a broken golden visor- but what she saw was a human face.

A very _pretty_ human face.

Heat rose to her cheeks and she balked, looking away with shame. But why was she ashamed of all things? Perhaps because it felt like she was prying into someone else's life?

Well, they wouldn't _have_ a life if not for her intervention!

Turning to the Sangheili once more, she crouched low, placing her scuffed hands on the beaten and battered chest piece where she knew a gaping wound should have been. She didn't know if it would move with Six's breathing, but as she felt a shallow rise and fall Caia found the chest piece worked well enough as a tell for life. If she'd known the appropriate heart rates for a man or a woman she'd have searched for a pulse- but she didn't know either and she especially didn't know the resting heart rate for a Spartan.

The woman continued to bear a grin, though it had faltered, and Caia maintained it. But considering that it had faltered at all she didn't bother putting it back to fullness- she couldn't seem like she was trying too hard or they'd catch on! That! Would probably get her killed!

"If you don't leave, I'll kill all of you. I'm not a fan of death but I do **love** seeing the color blue. I wonder how much I could get out of you?" She spoke softly, head tilting to the side just so. Her eyes remained open, growing wide as she feigned sadistic glee. _'Drama class, thank you for existing!'_ She mentally cheered. The display seemed to work, an excellent bluff as she leaned forward, keeping her hand on Noble Six's chest but mindful not to apply pressure. Like a predator she nearly crawled, shoulders rolling with anticipation as a Minor shivered. Even when she was the one pushing down the urge to cry in fear- this façade could only last so long as the Covenant were too stubborn to abandon a kill.

They needed to LEAVE.

The Covenant, Caia and Six- all of them needed to _go_. Get out of each other's hair (or feathers and hide in some cases) before a bluff was called and Caia failed to keep Spartan B312 alive.

As she was growing too desperate to keep up the game, she felt it. A sort of pull, like a soft breeze through her hair and over her skin. Gravity tightening on her, inside and out, followed by a feeling of floating.

A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and a glowing light from below had her looking down- and she gasped in a mixture of horror and awe. Underneath her was a wide circle, a newly formed pit making a long, long tunnel down to another opening of blue light. All the way down this strange cylinder were colors- streams and wavelengths of color shifting around like ocean currents.

It was only as they grew close that she realized she was falling.

And that the high pitched noise ringing in her ears was her own caterwauling scream.

Luckily or not so, Caia was not falling alone.

Noble Six's prone body fell in with her, but their increased weight and the angle of their fall seemed to increase their rate of acceleration significantly beyond hers. Head first, straight down, while Caia was practically sitting in air with her limbs askew. Frantic whines escaped her as she released all the previous fear and tension from before, mingling with the added stress of this mind blowing phenomenon that would probably lead to her certain doom.

There really must be a higher power out there.

A higher power that takes pleasure in being an absolute _asshole_.

With this thought in mind, she flipped off the cosmic walls surrounding her, making sure to get all angles as she wriggled around midair.

But as she went upside down she accelerated, unintentionally, and remembered the phrase from a Macguffin in the 1970's. "If you save a man's life, you are responsible for him forever." The quote was slightly butchered and not even a real _proverb_ , but she figured she'd hold it with similar regard. Caia couldn't save Six _once_ and not try to keep them alive again…

Resolving herself and banishing her fear, she frowns, concentrating, as she pins her arms to her sides and sticks her legs straight out. Straining to stick her toes out straight behind her to increase her velocity like a diving bird.

Like lightning she zips down, wind whistling past her ears as her hair whips around behind her. Eyes watering, lungs straining to catch breath, she gets close enough to Six to be able to reach out and clamp onto their armored figure like a vice. Honestly… she didn't know what to do from here on out, but it felt better being able to hold them than continuing to separately free fall. It gave her some semblance of control where she had none.

Until a wave of cold hit her and the light surrounding the two disappeared, draping them in shadow.

Eyes slamming shut like double doors, Caia gritted her teeth against the chill. She only barely managed to keep them open to see where they were. Air suddenly came in shorter supply, frost forming on her hair and eyelashes in an instant. Her bare feet felt like they'd been dropped into an ice bath and she practically laced her toes together to keep some warmth in her extremities. Quickly, she found out why so many problems suddenly arose.

They were in an atmosphere.

Just _barely_.

If her heart could sink any further into the pit of her stomach, it would.

Glancing back at the ambiguously attractive Spartan III, Caia fretted over the frost forming on them too. Reluctantly but also not so, she resigned herself to pulling herself up and using her own fading body heat to keep them from freezing.

But when she realized they were still effectively falling to their doom, Caia began to panic again.

"Shit, oh shit oh SHIT!" She yelped, clutching them close. "Uh- uhm, gotta think of a way out of this…" Recalling how the 'portal' appeared in her most desperate hour, she hoped to the higher power for something to save both their lives one more time.

"Something that's specific so I can- control it?" She muttered to herself, feeling squeamish as the world below grew steadily closer. Then it hit her, the most absurd thing she'd ever wished for. "Wings, wings! I need goddamn wings!"

Nothing happened except for their continued descent.

She grew angry and desperate again. "Oh come on, you helped me out last time- we'll die without it! Please! Please…" Fury bubbled up in the pit of her stomach and she erupted, feeling the much-needed heat coursing through her veins like boiling water. Well, without the subsequent destruction of her insides. "IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF A CRUEL, SICK JOKE!? ARE YOU REALLY JUST GOING TO LET ME FALL TO MY DEATH- WITH NOBLE SIX!? YOU BRING ME HERE TO DO _LORDS_ KNOW WHAT AND DECIDE TO SCREW ME OVER NOW!? WELL FUCK YOU TOO, ASSHOLE!" She pants, suddenly light headed. Using her oxygen like that probably wasn't the best idea since she couldn't get it back as easily.

As mountain ranges grew clearer her anger faded into acceptance, morbid acceptance. "I'm gonna die. We're so dead. Fuck, dude, we're _dead_. But I guess it's better you're unconscious… at least you don't get run through like a kebab. You deserved better anyways. Though, falling to our doom isn't favorable either." She mumbles, looking down at her charge with sadness for a moment before shifting her gaze beyond the atmosphere. "I'm… too sexy to die like this, my beautiful face is gonna be ruined!" Caia rasps mournfully, struggling to inhale enough oxygen even as elevation decreases each second. Her stomach still felt far too light and her head hurt with cold, but it's not the fall that kills…

As they neared planet, she turned her gaze back to the mountains below and saw something surprising. The rush of air started making it difficult for her to mouth words, blowing so she felt much like a dog sticking its head out the window. It surprised her with the vicinity it had to their probable landing location, although considering how high they were, everything looked significantly smaller than it really was. "Is that… a _city_?"

A sharp and searing hot pain on her spine had her crying out in shock. It throbbed, once, twice, _thrice_ , and it seemed to expand under her skin like a rash. It went along the same lines the rock had scathed into her back, itching and burning and hurting like someone took a fistful of salt and was rubbing it deep into the mild wounds… escalating the pain. Clutching B312 tightly, she restrained the urge to scream by gritting her teeth… but air and agony still whistled between them. The feeling burned unpleasantly against the cold like a fever had set in.

It felt like something was moving under her skin- so fast and so quick like a wriggling _worm_ … Until with a shriek of agony split the thin air like an atom while the sound of tearing flesh, thread, and snapping joints followed close behind.

A miserable headache pounded in her skull as though some miniature devil had carved its way inside and was poking her brain with a double-sided trident.

To be honest, she wasn't completely blindsided by this happening.

Well, she was certainly not anticipating such misery… but Caia knew it was worth it. She'd gotten her wish, even if it had come like a nightmare.

Reflexively, she thought hard to move them. Nothing happened. So she tried not thinking about it, instead thinking about wings the way she'd imagined using them as a kid. Hey, Caia had loved feathered creatures and wanted a pair of useable wings of her own. Who could blame her?

Fortunately for Caia, this so called training worked in in her favor. She tried moving them and felt them flex, new and hesitant against the rocketing plummet. Yet still she persisted. Caia tried moving to the left.

She did.

She tried moving to the right.

She did.

She tried slowing down.

"Oh _**SHIT!**_ "

Not so much luck.

Frantic now, she began doing her best to flap wings far bigger than she'd anticipated for the sake of at least slowing down- but Six's excess weight made it impossible. Or at least, _nearly_ impossible in the face of Caia's stubbornness. Angry, terrified almost out of her wits, and still hurting from having a pair of bigass _bird wings_ (she assumed) explode from her back, she turned some of her negativity to Six. "Jesus fucking Christ! Lay off the cookies, asshole!" Considering Six had done literally nothing wrong except pass out, this was fairly unjust. It wasn't _their_ fault the two were falling out of the sky like meteors!

Gritting her teeth and groaning with tremendous effort, she did her best to slow down their rapid descent into a mountain range that could put Mount Everest to shame. Who knew, maybe it was Mount Everest in the future. But that didn't matter half as much as getting them to slow down enough to not die on impact. Without their helmet, Caia didn't know how much damage B312 could take if she failed to slow the drop enough before impact. Caia immediately understood what it was like to be a parachute. With her delicate human body, the woman would probably die on impact as her shins exploded upwards into her brains. Or if they stayed lodged in her ribcage, piercing everything like swords.

The thought was not a pleasant one.

Even as her descent miraculously slowed by a margin, she still decided to send her farewells out to her friends.

"Well, Eben, Kacy, Red, everyone… If I don't make it out of this alive I-I want you to know that… I… I was the one who- ATE THE LAST RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE POPSIIIIIICLE!" She cried as the mountain tops raced past her, the edges narrowly missing taking off her new limbs and the Spartan nearly crashing against the steep faces.

Her arms and back were positively aching from holding up so much weight- if she actually tried any harder to stop them she was sure her muscles would tear from the effort. Nonetheless, she somehow managed to slow them down by the slightest percentage more- though they were still rocketing down into the valley. It was better than nothing and preferable to tearing herself apart. Noble Six's feet dragged more than once on the snow banks and at some points clipped an outcropping, sending her forward hard enough to twist her wrists with a choked yelp.

As they neared the bottom of the mountain range, she made a choice decision. As her pain tolerance wasn't high enough to make this tolerable any longer, she would let go and hope for the best for both of them.

The moment came and she whispered _"Good luck."_ Feeling those brand new wings of hers give out under the stress, she let go. B312 fell into the snow with a painful sounding thud (likely making contact with rock) and Caia herself ended up flung into one of the many snowdrifts lined against the mountain base. Before she could think anything else her head cracked against the blackened stone beneath it, sending her into a world of darkness once more.

So much for just waking up.

* * *

 **(A/N) Thanks for reading! I'd be most grateful if y'all could leave a review, any advice to improve my writing or simply telling me what you think of the story would be delightful!**


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